Hawksbill sea turtles are among some of the most critically endangered species on the earth.

Hunting and loss of their habitat has rendered the race nearly extinct even though they were abundant in the Caribbean just a few years ago.

These sea turtles are not witnessed by scuba divers very often but when they do, the scenes can be adorable.

Here’s a video of a hawksbill sea turtle as it approaches a scuba diver in curiosity to have a closer look at him.

[rumble video_id=v68be8 domain_id=u7nb2]

Video credit: Rumble

The video shows a group of scuba divers enjoying a leisure trip 25m underwater to visit a sunken Russian warship near the Cayman Islands.

Wandering next to the coral-covered hull of the ship, the divers were met by a turtle who apparently lives in the same area.

The turtle comes near a diver at a distance of about a foot to see in detail what a scuba diver looks like.

The divers in this video are a young lady, Serena, and her family. Serena is an amateur diver who loves to witness sea turtles.

She followed the turtle back to its home and finally returned to the surface with memories and a video clip she’ll cherish for a lifetime.

The main reason behind the hunting of hawksbill turtles was their shell.

Their shells have exquisite natural designs that are used for making hairbrushes and ornamental items. Due to the hunting for these shells, the gorgeous creatures were almost lost.

Now, it is outlawed to kill these turtles for harvesting their shells. The use and sale of their shells is illegal. Thanks to these steps, hawksbill turtles are making a slow comeback.

Hawksbill turtles get their name from their curved beak that makes it possible for them to tear off pieces of sponges and algae from coral.

These turtles almost exclusively live on eating algae and sponges that grow on coral like the one covering the hull of this sunken ship.

From their size and the sheer weight of their shells, sea turtles might appear to be sluggish creatures but seeing them move at full speed through water totally negates that notion.

These graceful creatures are quite the opposite of what they might appear to be at first sight.

 

 

Replaced!